New Orleans has known about Nicholas Payton for years. He’s the child prodigy encouraged by Wynton Marsalis. He’s the modern trumpet stylist who shared a 1997 Grammy Award with Doc Cheatham -- a jazzman born in 1905. He’s the mid-career improviser who made waves by rejecting the “jazz” label in 2011.

And Payton, who rarely plays club gigs in his hometown, is performing at the Maple Leaf on Thursday (May 9) in a trio with drummer Johnny Vidacovich and bassist Roland Guerin.

Don’t miss this show.

If you’re hesitating, ask anyone who saw Payton at the 2013 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

I was the lucky critic who got to review Payton’s “incandescent, soul-drenched” Jazz Fest appearance with David Torkanowsky and the rhythm section from the Meters. For me, that performance sealed Payton’s claim to a spot in the trumpet pantheon, not simply for his astounding technique and burnished sound, but because he’s a storytelling, musical genius who “can start his tales at any point, bring tears to your eyes, make you jump for joy, and set you to dancing in your chair.”

Payton isn’t a rising star anymore. He’s a fully formed artist at the peak of his powers. He takes risks whenever he picks up his horn or touches the keyboard. (And, if you caught his Jazz Fest interview with Bruce Raeburn, you know he takes other risks, too, discussing everything from racism and musical pigeonholes, to Stevie Wonder and Bach)